William heney mannes



(No Model.)

W. H. MANNES.

TONGS.

No. 370,961. Patented Oct. 4, 1887.

INVBNTOR 24%? ATTORNEYS.

N PETERS PiwIO-Liflwgrapher. Wuhingloln II C,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM HENRY MANN ES, OF COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO.

Tones.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 370,961, dated October4, 1887.

Application filed June 15, 1887.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HENRY MANNES, of Colorado Springs, in thecounty of El Paso and State of Colorado, have in vented new and ImprovedTongs, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to provide a new and improved pair oftongs in which the jaws can be so adjusted as to leave any desired spacebetween them.

The invention consists in providing one part of the tongs with thepivot-pin and the other part of the tongs with a cross-slot, into whichlead a number of parallel slots adapted to engage the pivot-pin,so as toform the fulcrum for the last-named part, and of a square plate forholding the last'named part of the tongs in place on thepivot-pin.

The invention also consists of certain parts and details andcombinations of the same, as will be fully described hereinafter, andthen pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a frontelevation of my improve ment. Fig. 2 is asectionalend elevation of the same on the line 00 x of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is aface View of part of one part of the tongs.

The pair of tongs A is made in the usual two parts, B and 0, providedwith the jaws D and E and the handles F and G, respectively. In the partB is held to turn a pivot-pin, H, adapted to engage with its shank oneof a number of slots, I, arranged parallel to each other and across thepart 0 between the handle G and the jaw E. The slots I lead into acrossslot, J,which permits of moving the part 0 so that the shank of thepivot' pinH may engage either one of the slots I,whichever is desired.The pivot-pin H is provided on the end held in one of the slots I with asquare head, H, which may be formed directly on the shank of said pin ormay be a not secured on the threaded end of said shank.

011 the part C of the pair of tongs Ais held a guard-plate, K, by meansof the bolt L, secured to the part 0, and provided witha winged nut, N,screwing down on said plate K. The latter is provided with a projection,O, which Serial No. 241,45i. (No model.)

fits into a corresponding aperture, P, formed in the part 0, so as toprevent said guardplate K from turning after it is in place. The upperend of the guard-plate K covers the slot J, and when said guard-plate isin place the upper edge rests against one of the sides of the squarehead H of the pivot-pin H, so that said pivot-pin H cannot disengage therespective slot I, in which it had been previously placed.

It will be seen that when the two parts B and O of the pair of tongs Aare in the position shown in Fig. 1-that is, the pivot-pin H is held inthe extreme left-hand slot I-then the jaws E and D can be used forholding very small objects by manipulating the handles F and G in theusual manner, as said jaws Eand D are closed very tightly. If theoperator desires to hold larger objects, he unscrews the winged nut Nand swings the guard-plate K downward, so as to free the slot J. Theoperator now moves the part 0 outward, so that the shank of thepivot-pin H passes into the slot J, and then the part 0 is moved to theleft until the shank of the pivot-pin H is opposite the desired slot I,into which said shank is moved, and then the plate K is swung upwardagain to its former position, engaging with its upper edge one side ofthe head H, and the projection 0 again drops into the aperture orindentation P, after which the winged nut Nis again screwed up againstthe guard-plate K. The pair of tongs can now be used again in theordinary manner by manipulating the handles F and G; but the jaws D andE are separated from each other a distance equal to the distance betweenthe extreme left-hand aperture I and the aperture I in which the shankof the pivot-pin is now held. The operator is thus enabled to hold alarge or a small object with the pair of tongs.

It will further be seen that the two parts 13 and O can very easily beadjusted so as to increase or diminish the distance between the twoprongs E and D.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with two tong parts, of which one carries thepivot-pin and the other is provided with a number of parallel slotsleading into a cross-slot, of a guard-plate held fastened to the slottedtong part and engaging with its upper edge the square head of thepivot-pin, so as to hold the latter in its respeotive parallel slot,substantially as shown and described.

3. The combination, with two tong parts, of which one is provided with anumber of parallel slots leading into a cross-s1ot,of the pivotpinprovided with a square head and passing with its shank through anaperture 1n one 20 tong part and through one of the parallel slots inthe other tong part, a guard-plate held on the slotted tong part andengaging with its upper edge the square head of the pivot-pin, a boltheld on the slotted tong part on which said guard-plate is pivoted, anda nut screwing on said bolt and against said guard-plate for holding thelatter in position on the slotted tong part, substantially as shown anddescribed.

4 WILLIAM HENRY MANN ES.

Witnesses:

OHEs'rER B. DIKE,

SYDNEY W. MILLER.

